The Dungeon of Doom received a huge push in WCW as a group meant to take down Hulk Hogan. Wrestling was still in the stage of having hokey acts that created cartoonish characters. Most wrestlers in the faction had a spooky gimmick of sorts that made them look like a Halloween costume catalog. WCW felt they could pose a threat to Hogan in his path to finding relevance again.
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The members had different experiences with some doing better than others. Some Dungeon of Doom members did well during their time in the group and positively contributed. Others unfortunately struggled and it hurt their careers. Find out just what caused the scenarios to unfold as such with the five best and five worst members of the Dungeon of Doom faction.
10 Best: Lex Luger
WCW found more success with Lex Luger as a face in the late ‘90s, but he was always a more natural heel. One of the times he did have a heel run during this chapter of his career came in the Dungeon of Doom.
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Luger was among the few wrestlers in the group that came off as a top star. It was relatively easy for Lex to get heel heat based on his natural character of the arrogant villain. The run didn’t last too long as Luger eventually turned face and became part of the team to beat the Dungeon in War Games.
9 Worst: One Man Gang
The list of wrestlers joining the Dungeon of Doom eventually featured anyone that made sense as a Hulk Hogan rival. One Man Gang feuded with Hogan in WWE and was struggling to find the right role in WCW when joining the faction.
The fit didn’t make sense since One Man Gang wasn’t over in WCW yet and just felt like an extra body to add to the group segments. WCW never got much success out of One Man Gang during his entire run and the stint in the Dungeon of Doom flopping hurt his career.
8 Best: The Barbarian
The Barbarian was an underrated addition to the WCW roster adding depth in whatever role was needed. WCW made the right move putting in the Dungeon of Doom faction to team with Meng and adopt Jimmy Hart as his manager.
He was also perfect in the stable since his character was a bit intimidating compared to the others. Barbarian continued working with Meng and Jimmy with the same characters even after the Dungeon ended.
7 Worst: Big Bubba
The WWE run of the Big Boss Man made him a legend in the mainstream wrestling world. WCW tried to find success when signing him in the mid-90s. A few ridiculous characters all failed before he used the name Big Bubba with less of a gimmick.
WCW did place him in the Dungeon of Doom faction hoping to build on his heel heat. Big Bubba didn’t fit into the group since he didn’t have an outlandish gimmick and was just used as another heel who had issues with Hulk Hogan.
6 Best: Meng
Few wrestlers in WCW had the intimidation factor of Meng due to his real life toughness. Every wrestler to work with Meng had nothing but positive things to say about him, but they also made it clear they’d never want to fight him.
The time in the Dungeon of Doom helped Meng further break out when finding a manager that fit with him as Jimmy Hart did. WCW found the ideal roles for Meng and The Barbarian as the Faces of Fear tag team.
5 Worst: Konnan
WCW expected Konnan to be the biggest breakout star from Mexico when signing a few of the luchadors. Konnan’s success in AAA made him a huge Mexican draw, but things stalled a few times in WCW.
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The run in the Dungeon of Doom held him back since Konnan’s character traits were unlike the others in the group. Konnan didn’t break out until getting promo time in the Wolfpac. The early years in the Dungeon of Doom was a poor fit for both sides.
4 Best: Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan was the lead WCW booker when coming up with the concept of the Dungeon of Doom. The idea was that he’d be the Taskmaster villain who led the faction of super villains to take down Hulk Hogan once and for fall.
Sullivan booking segments meant he knew exactly what his character called for and did a good job. Despite leading the group with his promos, he never put himself over bigger names. Sullivan’s best chapter of his career came leading the Dungeon of Doom.
3 Worst: The Shark
John Tenta ditched his WWE character of Earthquake for a run in WCW when Hulk Hogan gained power and influenced the signings of his friends. A new gimmick of The Shark was created for him to join the Dungeon of Doom.
The act was meant to mimic the most intimidating creature in the sea, but it came off silly watching a wrestler cosplaying as a shark. Characters like this showed why fans lost interest in the Dungeon of Doom as an outdated act.
2 Best: The Giant
Big Show’s debut in WCW came as The Giant in the Dungeon of Doom faction. Jimmy Hart turned heel in Giant’s first match against Hulk Hogan to add the biggest moment of success for the stable since they formed.
The Giant won the WCW Championship on a few occasions and made sense in the group based on his character. WCW made a lot of mistakes during his time there, but Giant certainly accomplished enough to be the best member of the Dungeon of Doom.
1 Worst: The Zodiac
Ed Leslie was tasked with playing The Zodiac character after his run as The Butcher flopped. Hulk Hogan wanted his best friend to get over as a top feud to continue working against each other and it led to him joining the Dungeon of Doom with this character.
The ridiculous gimmick flopped and caused Hogan to come up with another strange idea. Leslie was revealed to be a mole in the faction to help Hulk and the faces overcome them. The Zodiac contributed to nothing but negative moments from start to finish in the Dungeon of Doom.
